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October 8-11, 2014Hyatt Regency Capitol HillWashington, DC USA

The Family Firm Institute (FFI) is pleased to announce its 2014 Global Conference, entitled Family Enterprise: Complexities, Constituencies and Constellations.

This year the conference — which annually brings together contributions from prominent keynote speakers, professionals, educators, researchers, and family business owners from throughout the world — will address the problems of complexity, the power of constituencies, and the constellations of socio-cultural forces exerting themselves across the field of family enterprise.

Sessions will focus on the following areas:

Complexity: Complexity is generally considered a hallmark of family enterprises. Complex systems imply multiple components, variables and interconnectedness, which typically cause changes to ripple throughout the system. In the intersection of family and business complex financial, familial, and organizational dynamics inevitably arise. Many believe they understand this complexity and how to prevent its complications. Butthis prompts the question of whether or not complications should or can be prevented. Is our understanding of complexity based on myth or research? Or conversely is complexity really a radical problem demanding a radical solution?

Constituencies: In the broadest sense, constituencies are groups or bodies that are involved in, patronize, support, represent or are served by an organization or institution. Family enterprise systems have constituencies both inside and outside their system. In consideration of our 2014 host city, Washington D.C., we will explore the many and often heterogeneous constituencies operating in the field of family enterprise and the range of issues that unify — and sometimes divide — those constituencies.

Constellations: Constellations are the connections among the discrete components of a system. Family enterprise is a global field of research and practice. Understanding the various configurations and interrelations — or constellations — of cultures, customs, country parameters, regional perspectives and values in which family enterprise researchers and practitioners are embedded is crucial to working successfully in the field of family enterprise. What can we learn from comparing and contrasting?

Keynotes

Opening Keynote"Life Is What You Make It: A
Concert & Conversation with Peter Buffett”

Peter Buffet is an Emmy
Award-winning musician whose acclaimed career spans more than 30 years as a
professional musician, composer, philanthropist and author. Buffet’s book Life
is What You Make It is a personal and revealing, instructive and intuitive
story about following passions over conventions, transcending your
circumstances or status, taking up the reins of your destiny, and living life
to its fullest. The son of business magnate and philanthropist Warren Buffett,
Peter Buffet ultimately conveys that it's ones values-and what we are able to
give back to society-that shape and define us as individuals.

Thursday Keynote"The Power of Habit”, Charles Duhigg

Charles Duhigg has been a reporter
at TheNew York Times since 2006. His latest series focused on Apple and
was named "The iEconomy.”
It won a Pulitzer prize for explanatory reporting in 2013. A graduate of Yale
and Harvard Business School, Duhigg worked in private equity and – for one
terrifying day – was a bike messenger in San Francisco. He is the author of The
Power of Habit, about the science of habit formation in our lives,
companies and societies. At its core,The Power of Habit contains
an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight,
raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary
companies and social movements and achieving success is understanding how
habits work.

Closing Keynote"The Geopolitics of Emotion: How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation, and Hope are Reshaping the World”, Dominique Moïsi

Dominique Moïsi is a French political scientist and writer. In his book, The Geopolitics of Emotion: How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation, and Hope are Reshaping the World, he shows how the geopolitics of today is characterized by a "clash of emotions." A leading authority on international affairs, Moïsi explains that in order to understand our changing world, we need to confront emotion. Moïsi deciphers the driving emotions behind our cultural differences, delineating a provocative and important new perspective on globalization.

REGISTRATION FEES

FFI Members receive discounts to attend the FFI global conference.

To take advantage of these discounts please sign in to your account online. If you need assistance signing in please contact Dan Lilienthal or call the office at 617.482.3045.